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Trafford
From the Wikipedia page https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trafford Trafford is a metropolitan borough of Greater Manchester, England, with an estimated population of 235,493 in 2017.2 It covers 41 square miles (106 km2)3 and includes the areas of Old Trafford, Stretford, Urmston, Altrincham, Partington and Sale. The borough was formed in 1974 as a merger of the metropolitan boroughs of Altrincham, Sale, and Stretford, the urban districts of Bowdon, Hale and Urmston and part of Bucklow Rural District. The River Mersey flows through the borough, separating North Trafford from South Trafford, and the historic counties of Lancashire and Cheshire. In 1974, Trafford Council was created to administer the newly formed Trafford Metropolitan Borough and is headquartered at Trafford Town Hall, which was previously named Stretford Town Hall. On its formation in 1974, the council was controlled by the Conservative Party; the Conservatives have been in control 1973–85, 1988–94, and 2004 to the present. The only time the Labour Party was in control was 1996–2002. The rest of the time were periods of no overall control. The council meets to decide policy and allocate budget. Its duties include setting levels of council tax, monitoring the health service in Trafford, providing social care, and funding schools. Cllr Andrew Western is the leader of the council as of 2018, and Cllr Tom Ross is the current mayor. In 2007 the Audit Commission judged Trafford Council to be "improving strongly" in providing services for local people. Overall the council was awarded "three star" status meaning it was "performing well" and "consistently above minimum requirements", similar to 46% of all local authorities. In 2008–09, Trafford council had a budget of £150.5 million. This was collected from council tax (57%) and government grants (43%). The council spent £31.8 million on children and young people's services (21%); £60.1 million on community services and social care (40%); £34.4 million on "prosperity, planning, and development" (23%); and £33.8 million on customer and corporate services (22%).25 Civil parishes form the bottom tier of local government; the parish councils are involved in planning, management of town and parish centres, and promoting tourism. In 2001, 8,484 people (4.0% of the borough's population) lived in Trafford's four civil parishes: Carrington, Dunham Massey, Partington, and Warburton. They were all previously part of Bucklow Rural District. A rural district was a type of local government district for the administration of predominantly rural areas. The rest of Trafford is unparished. The unparished areas are: Altrincham (Municipal Borough), Bowdon (Urban District), Hale (Urban District), Sale (Municipal Borough), Stretford (Municipal Borough), and Urmston (Urban District). The status of each area prior to 1974 is shown in brackets. An urban district was a type of local government district which covered an urbanised area. Following the 2018 local elections, the council, which was previously Conservative-held, came under Labour control in the form of a minority administration. There were a few shock results, such as in Altrincham (ward), where the Green Party gained seats from the incumbent Conservative councillors. See also Trafford Metropolitan Borough Council